Is a VPN advisable for line security

I am thinking about using a VPN so I am asking the groups opinion of using one . In addition, if you don't mind pllease make a recommendation, Thank you

I'm not sure what you mean by line security. If you're talking about data on the wire and how you can secure it a VPN will offer great protection. The VPN will simply encrypt all communications making them completely useless to anyone who may end up encountering them. This doesn't mean that if your computer is compromised already the data will be secure in transit. Nor does it mean the data cannot be compromised through the VPN provider. You have to trust the VPN provider. You also have to use VPN all of the time in order to ensure there are no data leaks which could otherwise not be encrypted. Theres no point in seriously thinking about securing data if you only use VPN every now and then. If your data is to be secured you have to ensure you're running at a very minimum 99% uptime in terms of encryption being actively implemented. Also your operational security will determine whether using encryption is any use seeing as making silly mistakes and school boy errors will render many things obsolete. You can live in a castle while telling your adversary how to get in because you left the blue prints at the nearby tavern when you were drunk! So much for a castle now, huh? Even though encryption is now becoming mandatory on the web and elsewhere many things still do not implement encryption fully. If you visit a website for example that is HTTP and not HTTPS this data is not encrypted and can be intercepted on the wire with basic packet sniffing tools. HTTPS traffic however is encrypted and therefore with a basic packet sniffing tool you'd get garbage text and not clear text.

All a VPN connection is basically is a connection through a network before then connecting out to the internet. You are borrowing someone else's network to connect out to the internet. This is how you acquire a different IP address as the server you connect to will be assigned an IP address (obviously) and this IP address is the one you acquire seeing as your communications are being routed through it. You don't run nor manage this network. You aren't setting the rules. You aren't the one with access to the network, only at a superficial level. You are not able to vouch for what happens to this data when it runs through a VPN providers servers. Is it being intercepted? What data is being collected about your session? To begin with you are not usually protected before connecting to a VPN and therefore you connect while providing a substantial amount of information, depending on what is collected by the provider. This can and often is tied back to people who use VPN's. Proxy chains are usually far more effective at anonymising you as it is more difficult to peel away at the proxies before revealing the originating IP, but these require more knowledge than simply pressing 'Connect' using your fave VPN provider. You also may often have to purchase your own private proxies as free proxies are abused and are therefore slow as hell which means if you're really wanting to protect yourself you would need to somehow anonymise the purchase of these proxies. A proxy chain of, say, 5 or 6 proxies will if randomized go through each proxy in random order before then connecting out to the VPN. Lots of VPN providers provide the option of connecting to their services with a proxy, and this is recommended hence why the feature is integrated.

It all depend on your goals.

The problem is all data via VPN goes down one end point and hackers are using that to hack the data as it's all in one place

Samuria said:

The problem is all data via VPN goes down one end point and hackers are using that to hack the data as it's all in one place

How do you mean?

dalchina said:

Hi, first question might be - 'what do you want to achieve'? Second might be 'what do you believe using a VPN can do for you?' Third might be 'From whom are you trying to hide your internet activity'?

Some thoughts:
a. Using a VPN can mean you appear to be located in a different country. This might be useful, depending on what you're aiming to do.
b. Using a VPN might mean your internet connection is slower- depends on how fast it is now, and which VPN service you use.
c. Not all VPN's support using torrents.
d. Using a VPN might help you escape the restrictions imposed in a country. E.g. some years back I was in China, and had to use one to access certain sites and use email reliably. However, they have tightened up since then and blocked protocols fundamental to VPN services.
e. Occasionally (a) might cause a security problem when logging in to certain sites.
f. Decide if you need a VPN for all internet usage, or just for your browser.

You might also consider using a secure browser that removes tracks.

E.g. Brave:
Secure, Fast & Private Web Browser with Adblocker | Brave Browser


Chrome has lots of free VPN extensions.
Does Google Chrome have its own VPN? | TechRadar

OK thank you